Sacred Souls: Genesis

The last soldier of the Oblivion Legion was beaten to death by the players.

By the time the instance completion prompt appeared in front of every player, several who had been gaming nonstop for three days and nights had collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Another group of players ran over to Queen Mei’s side.

“What are they doing?”

Queen Mei’s lips moved, and though her expression hardly changed, her tone sounded… extremely nervous.

Just two hours earlier, these spirits had been shouting the slogan “For Queen Mei” and fighting for her, yet four hours earlier, they had been beating her up using the same slogan.

So now Queen Mei was quite suspicious… whether the spirits intended to beat her up collectively again after defeating the Oblivion Legion.

“Take a photo together,” Jiang Qiao communicated with Queen Mei using another voice channel, and the players couldn’t hear Jiang Qiao’s voice no matter how close they were to Queen Mei.

“Ten bucks for a photo with Queen Mei! Just ten bucks! You can’t lose! You won’t be cheated!”

“The queen isn’t your property! Move aside once you’re done; there’s a whole queue waiting.”

“How come we can’t touch the queen when we were allowed to hit her during the battle? Now that we just want to touch her, it’s forbidden.”

“…”

“A photo? What should I do?”

Queen Mei, hearing the players’ discussions, appeared very nervous; her gaze shifting alertly to those players drawing near. Seeing the way she faintly gripped her left hand, it was as if she was about to conjure a blade of blood mist and enter combat mode any second.

“Just smile, and try to present a scene of your dignified self. Taking a photo is somewhat like painting an oil portrait. Think of it as an oil painting of the players with you, akin to a reward for the warriors’ combat,” Jiang Qiao explained.

A reward for beating you up… Jiang Qiao made a small quip to himself.

“An oil painting?”

Queen Mei understood Jiang Qiao’s explanation and glanced around… The battlefield was a scene of chaos, filled with ruins and remains piled up.

“This is not a suitable backdrop for an oil painting,” Queen Mei remarked, before turning another glance at Jiang Qiao, who was in the form of a light orb. Jiang Qiao didn’t speak and merely gestured invitingly, prompting Queen Mei to slowly walk toward the direction of the palace.

The streets of the royal city were in shambles, the civilians turned into living corpses lay as dust on the ground, leaving only their tattered clothes behind.

Unlike the five knights, these mindless zombies were truly dead; even their souls no longer existed, beyond Jiang Qiao’s ability to save.

It seemed Queen Mei had grasped this reality as well, but she needed more time to come to terms with the fall of her kingdom. However, looking at the current situation, her country hadn’t fallen just yet.

“Is Her Majesty going to ascend the throne now?”

“Probably heading back to the palace to start the story CG.”

“Hey, do you think we’ll get knighted or something?”

“Photo for ten bucks, just ten bucks! A fair deal for young and old!”

Queen Mei, expressionless, continued down the street to the palace, surveying her now-extinct kingdom — a sight that should have been quite sorrowful.

But with groups sporadically bouncing along the street wearing brown bear toy head covers, rainbow unicorn headpieces, and pixelated heads… the air was void of any trace of sorrow.

Jiang Qiao could tell; Queen Mei was doing her best to hold back her laughter. She had always tried to maintain her dignity in front of the players, so much so that her brows were now furrowed tightly, and her expression was on the verge of breaking down.

“Miss Mei!”

Suddenly, at the end of the street, a familiar figure appeared to Queen Mei—it was the axe-wielding man… Still in combat mode, his long-handled axe was smeared with dark red blood.

Upon seeing her, the agony Queen Mei had been suppressing switched to surprise, but before she could approach her old friend, the surrounding players began to greet the axe-wielding man.

“Why hasn’t this mid-boss died yet?”

“He still has five hundred thousand hit points.”

Members of the Gray Eyes Association and players from the rapid night movement saw the axe-wielding man who had slipped away from them suddenly appear; the guild members immediately started applying a collective battle BUFF.

“It seems the numbers of your guard have expanded again,” said the axe-wielding man with a bitter smile on his face.

“Brave warriors, please come with me to the palace to receive the rewards you deserve, as well as my thanks,” Queen Mei promptly responded in a low voice to the players who had already taken out whetstones to sharpen their weapons, glancing at Jiang Qiao, who was beside her in his ball of light.

“The axe-wielding man is now a friendly unit, and the holy spirits can’t harm him, provided he doesn’t harm them.”

Jiang Qiao’s words could also be heard by the axe-wielding man. As a heartfelt person, he realized that battling this group of holy spirits would most likely result in him being pinned down and beaten.

Therefore, the axe-wielding man wisely put away his weapon and made a gesture of allegiance to Queen Mei.

Players spared the poor mid-boss when they saw his name was green and no health bar appeared above him.

This brief interlude quickly concluded. Of the three thousand four hundred players who participated in the Divine War, half cheerfully entered the palace.

Queen Mei approached her throne, intending to sit, but after some thought, she remained standing and turned to all the holy spirits below.

“Take this,” Jiang Qiao shoved a glowing crystal into Queen Mei’s hands, and to the players, it appeared as a deep blue shard in her hand. “Then just say something, and that’s fine.”

“No need for other honors?” Queen Mei asked, recalling that during her nation’s heyday, the holy spirits’ actions of defending against enemies would at least grant them a title.

“Other honors consist of you standing here for a while after issuing the mission rewards, that’s all,” said Jiang Qiao. After his words, Queen Mei raised her hand, and the glowing crystal shattered, scattering into thousands of light beams, each landing in the hands of the players.

The item was a ‘Divine Fragment,’ a mission item casually created by Jiang Qiao, which would trigger the next main quest for the players who took it back.@@novelbin@@

‘Congratulations, you have completed the main quest: War of the Divines.’

The moment this prompt popped up in every player’s view, some couldn’t withstand several days of intense gaming and logged off, while others, still enthusiastic, crowded around Queen Mei for a photo op.

The sight of thousands swarming was… quite overwhelming. Quickly, Jiang Qiao created a wall of air, a barrier surrounding Queen Mei just less than half a meter away.

But this small air wall did not dampen the players’ eagerness for photos…

Under the anxious watch of the axe-wielding man, several players even stood atop the throne itself for a snapshot with Queen Mei beside them.

The throne had become a popular prop for photos, but only one person could sit at a time. The scene was on the verge of turning into a brawl over the throne.

It resembled a classic power struggle plotline, yet the players’ goal for scrambling onto the throne was purely innocent… ‘to make it look like Queen Mei was their supportive spouse in the screenshot.’

Luckily, some large guilds maintained some order, preventing the throne tussle from devolving into PvP.

“This is a beheading offense…” The axe-wielding man sighed, but Queen Mei seemed unbothered, even going along with some strange poses for the holy spirits’ photos.

========================

PS: Another new day! Requesting recommendations and support!